This anonymous interview is with an academic librarian who has been a hiring manager and a member of a hiring or search committee. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:

Tech Management, Web, reference, instruction, assessment.

This librarian works at a library with 50-100 staff members in an urban area in the Southern US.

Approximately how many people applied for the last librarian (or other professional level) job at your workplace?

√ 25-75

Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?

√ 25% or less

And how would you define “hirable”?

Meeting minimum position requirements.

How are applications evaluated, and by whom?

We use an in library search committee adhering to university hiring practices which include an evaluation matrix. All applications are reviewed by library staff/hiring committees. HR does not do initial weeding of applications.

What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?

Lack of required years of experience.

Do you (or does your library) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?

√ No

What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve his/her/their hirability?

Demonstrate professional experience is relevant to job sought. Even if prior experience isn’t identical to duties to be preformed, provide a persuasive case that previous duties are comparable to those listed in the position description.

I want to hire someone who is

flexible

How many staff members are at your library/organization?

√ 50-100

How many permanent, full time librarian (or other professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?

√ 5-6

How many permanent, full time para-professional (or other non-professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?

√ 3-4

Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time librarian positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?

√ There are fewer positions

Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?

√ No

Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with para-professional workers over the past decade?

√ No

Does your workplace require experience for entry-level professional positions? If so, is it an official requirement or just what happens in practice?

Yes. There is an official requirement for one year of professional experience.

Is librarianship a dying profession?

√ Other: It is changing.

Why or why not?

Librarianship in the traditional sense may not be as in high demand, but the organization, information management and technical skills of library and information sciences students are relevant to many areas of academia and business.